The gaming world is celebrating the rise of the best play-to-earn games, where players can earn real rewards while enjoying their gaming experience. These games offer a blend of entertainment and earning potential, allowing players to win rewards, often in the form of cryptocurrencies.
In this guide, we’ll review some of the best play-to-earn crypto games, focusing on their gameplay features, device compatibility, the rewards you can earn, and tips on how to begin your play-to-earn journey.
What Is the Best Play-to-Earn Game?
- CatSlap – ERC-20 memecoin featuring a play-to-earn (P2E) slapping game
- FreeDum Fighters — A new PolitiFi coin that uses play to earn gaming mechanics to create an interactive ecosystem that mirrors the ongoing US presidential election
- Sponge V2 — Introducing one of the top P2E games for earning $SPONGE tokens, aiming at active user engagement
- POKE – Among the best play-to-earn-games, blending the meme culture with gaming appeal
- Casinuu — The first 3D online casino that uses blockchain technology and a P2E gaming model to enable players to own virtual slot machines and generate passive income
- The Sandbox — Minecraft-based P2E game that allows its players to build and trade their own virtual land
- CryptoKitties — The first NFT game on ETH that started using the P2E model
- Axie Infinity — A Pokémon-based P2E game that allows players to collect, battle, and breed Axies
Best P2E Games of 2024 — Detailed Reviews
P2E games share similarities in that they are virtual worlds based on the blockchain that allow you to earn digital assets that you can swap for real money.
To save you some time, we’ve reviewed the most profitable play-to earn games, metaverse, and NFT games on the market:
1. Catslap – ERC-20 Memecoin Featuring a Play-to-Earn (P2E) Slapping Game
- No presale
- Trending at No.1 on DexTools
- A competitive and fun gaming system
Our play-to-earn game list 2024 cannot be complete without Catslap. It is a new ERC-20 token aiming to dethrone frog and dog-based meme coins with its click-and-slap revolution. This project uses a competitive and fun gaming system, allowing players to gather points by slapping Pepe.
What makes Catslap intriguing is that it doesn’t offer a presale, trying to be fair and accessible for everyone. Moreover, within an hour of launch, the token was already trending at No.1 on DexTools. The $SLAP token’s price is currently $0.00223026.
In the 2024 Q3-Q4 meme rally, cat tokens have surged dramatically, establishing themselves as a key player in the altcoin market. As a result, Moonvember is an ideal moment to introduce Catslap and the $SLAP token.
Its total supply of 9 billion tokens is distributed in the following manner: 50% is reserved for liquidity, 20% for staking rewards, and 10% for community rewards, team, and development fund each.
2. FreeDum Fighters — Stake $DUM Tokens to Vote for Magatron or Kamacop 9000 and Dive Into Weekly Debates to Earn Secret Airdrops
- Satirical, gamified token that mirrors the ongoing US presidential elections
- Earn rewards by voting for Magatron or Kamacop 9000
- Engage in quizzes, polls, and debates to win secret airdrops
FreeDum Fighters is a gamified project that managed to sell more than 2 billion tokens and raise over $100k in a few minutes. What makes this project lucrative for investors? It is a satirical approach to the ongoing US presidential elections. Besides mirroring and parodying the presidential elections, FreeDum Fighters uses play to earn gaming mechanics to power its community-centric ecosystem. On that note, token holders can earn rewards by playing quizzes and engaging in weekly polls and debates.
However, the main characters of its ecosystem are Magatron and Kamacop 9000. Investors will earn rewards by voting for one of them. Each candidate will have its own staking pool, whose APY will be based on the number of votes. A pool with a lower number of votes will have a higher APY.
The $DUM token has a limited supply of 270 billion, of which 108 billion will be available for purchase during the presale. Its current price will be $0.000085, while its final price will be $0.000125.
3. Sponge V2 — Introducing One of the Best Play-to-Earn Crypto Games for Earning $SPONGE Tokens
- Sponge Racer game will be available soon
- Race as popular cartoon characters
- Earn SPONGE tokens as rewards for your achievements
Sponge V2 was conceived as a replacement for the Sponge V1 token, whose price jumped by 4,000% since its launch in May 2023. That said, the V2 token could replicate the success of its predecessor. How?
First, its developers plan to launch a P2E game called Sponge Racer, powered by V2 tokens. Second, all investors who stake their tokens will get staking rewards, which will be distributed at a rate of 300 $SPONGE per POLY block and 6,149 $SPONGE per ETH block. Finally, investors will earn large APYs that go up to 168% on Ethereum and 375% on Polygon.
This project uses a stake-to-bridge model — V2 tokens can only be obtained by staking V1 tokens. After all V1 tokens are staked, V2 tokens will replace them. Investors will be able to use newly acquired V2 tokens to conduct transactions, vote, and access dApps. $SPONGE V2 has a total supply of 150 billion tokens, while its current price is $0.000019 per token.
4. POKE – Among the Best Play-To-Earn-Games, Blending the Meme Culture With Gaming Appeal
- An ecosystem where users can interact, trade, and earn
- Earned game tokens have real crypto value
- Severa monetization opportunities
POKE is one of the cryptocurrencies with the most potential and represents a tap-to-earn game based on Telegram. It combines the meme culture with gaming appeal. Players use POKE characters to collect companions and look for wealth. In addition to being a game, Poke is an ecosystem where users can interact, trade, and earn.
It provides its users with many monetization opportunities, such as advertising revenue, $POKE sales, in-game purchases, and transaction fees. The tokens users earn in the game have real crypto value. POKE offers progression systems, like character upgrades, daily quests, and achievement systems, all promoting long-term player engagement.
The project’s presale started in November and has raised 0ver $22k so far. The current $POKE price is $0.006066, and purchase methods include USDT and TON. Poke’s roadmap consists of four phases, with the presale ending in the third phase. Of the 15.1B tokens, 4.5 billion are reserved for the presale.
5. Casinuu — The First 3D Online Casino That Uses Blockchain Technology and a P2E Gaming Model to Enable Players to Own Virtual Slot Machines and Generate Passive Income
- Buy, sell, and own virtual slot machines
- Generate passive income based on the profits placed on your slot machines
- Customize your avatars and interact with other players
If you’re looking for the best P2E games in 2024, opt for Casinuu. Casinuu is the first 3D online casino that uses blockchain technology to enable players to buy, sell, and customize tokenized virtual slot machines. Players can select and customize 10 games from the gaming library of 2,000 titles. They’ll also be able to earn passive income based on the profits placed on their slots.
To make a comparison, physical casino slot machines usually cost around $25,000 USD, and they generate around 20% of revenue. On the other hand, the cost of Casinuu’s virtual machines starts at $2,500, while its owners will get 30% cashback based on the performance of their machines.
In addition to betting, Casinuu allows players to interact with each other and customize their avatars. This platform is licensed by Anjouan, and all transactions are supported by blockchain technology.
Moreover, machine owners will gain access to resources that will help them attract players and optimize the performance of their machines. The platform will go live on January 1, 2025, which means that players will be able to buy machines during the presale period.
6. The Sandbox — Minecraft-Based P2E Game That Allows Its Players to Build and Trade Their Own Virtual Land
- Build your own virtual land
- Participate in special events to earn $SAND tokens
- Create mini-games and NFTs
The Sandbox is one of the most popular P2E crypto games that runs on Ethereum. It allows players to build and customize their own virtual land. The Sandbox is also known for its special events, during which players can earn $SAND tokens by completing different tasks. These utility tokens, whose maximum supply is capped at three billion, serve for interactions and transactions within the Sandbox ecosystem.
The main features of this Minecraft-based P2E game are VoxEdit and Game Maker. The former is software that allows players to create and animate their NFTs, which they can then trade for $SAND. The latter allows players to create their own 3D games.
The Sandbox is a community-centric project that enables its token holders to vote on changes within their ecosystem. It’s also partnered with well-known brands and celebrities, like Ubisoft, Atari, Adidas, Tony Hawk, and Snoop Dogg. At the time of writing, the $SAND token trades at $0.2653.
6. CryptoKitties — The First NFT Game on ETH That Started Using the P2E Model
- The first NFT game on ethereum that used the P2E model
- Buy, sell, and breed digital cats
- Earn rewards by participating in catfights
If you want to find play-to-earn games that started the NFT and Ethereum gaming trend, opt for CryptoKitties. CryptoKitties was the first NFT game on ETH that started using the P2E model. This Tamagotchi-style game allows players to buy, sell, and breed NFT kitties. Each kitty will have unique attributes and breeding abilities.
There are four types of CryptoKitties – normal, fancy, special edition, and exclusive. The appearance of normal cats will be based on their genetic attributes. Fancy and special edition cats will have unique features, while exclusive cats are the rarest NFTs that will be released for special events.
Each CryptoKitty will have a unique DNA that will affect its appearance. Moreover, their genome will contain four genes, one primary and three hidden. Investors can make money by selling their CryptoKitties through auctions, during which they’ll choose their starting and ending prices. The most expensive CryptoKitty, Dragon #18, was sold for about 600 ETH, which is more than $2 million.
7. Axie Infinity — A Pokémon-Based P2E Game That Allows Players to Collect, Battle, and Breed Axies
- Collect, trade, and breed Axies
- Earn rewards by participating in the Adventure and Arena game modes
- Axie Infinity has its own DEX
Next in our P2E games reviews, we have Axie Infinity, an Ethereum-based game that revolves around Axies. Axies are Pokémon-based characters that come with unique abilities and traits. They are represented as NFTs, which can be collected, traded, battled, and bred. Players must have at least three Axies to play this blockchain game.
Players can earn rewards in the form of Axie’s native token, Axie Infinity Shards (AXS), and Smooth Love Potions (SLP). AXS is a governance token that has several use cases. I.e., players can use it to generate staking rewards and to buy in-game assets. On the other hand, SLP is used to breed new Axies that can then be traded for AXS.
Players can earn SLP tokens by participating in the Adventure and Arena game modes. The former includes competing against Chimeras, computer-generated enemies, while the latter includes competing against other players.
At the time of writing, the AXS token trades at $4.83, while its total supply is 270 million.
What Is a Play-to-Earn Game?
A P2E game is a concept that aims to improve the online gaming industry. These types of games reward players for their participation, that is, for completing certain in-game challenges. P2E games are decentralized, which means that no single entity will be able to control their outcomes.
P2E rewards usually include assets with monetary value and NFTs. They can also include the game’s native tokens or existing cryptocurrencies. Play-to-earn games allow players to own, trade, buy, and sell their in-game assets.
How Play-to-Earn Games Work
Play-to-earn games differ in terms of their style and genre, but they share similarities in other ways. See some fundamentals below surrounding how the best play-2-earn games work:
- Completing various tasks — Much like with traditional titles, the top play-to-earn games often require players to complete a range of tasks to be eligible for rewards. The same goes for levels, as many of the best play-to-win games offer higher-value rewards as you progress.
- Using NFTs — Many of the most profitable play-to-earn games use NFTs. This means that players can take ownership of unique digital items from within the game on the blockchain. These can be bought or sold to other people as you own the NFTs you’ve earned. Some allow you to make games and skins that you can resell. NFTs can take the shape of land, artwork, wearable items, avatar clothes, weapons, racehorses, and more.
- Native cryptocurrencies — As you may have noticed in our list of the best play-to-earn games, some have their in-game cryptocurrency. For instance, in the popular Decentraland game, the virtual land is governed by MANA, which is an altcoin based on Ethereum. There are also play-to-earn games that use existing digital currencies, such as Star Atlas, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain. Sorare, the fantasy football P2E game, is also built on Ethereum, and rewards are given as ETH tokens.
- Casinos and sportsbooks — Finally, many P2E games have casinos and sportsbooks. These games allow crypto investors to wager their crypto holdings in the in-game casino and sportsbook.
Types of Play-to-Earn Crypto Games
There are many different genres of play-to-earn gaming. Let’s look at some of the most popular play-to-earn game genres.
Card P2E Games
First on our list of play-to-earn games, we have card games. To win in this type of P2E game, players must use various strategies to outwit their opponents. In some games, such as Gods Unchained, you’ll have to build a stronger deck than your opponents. You’ll also find collectible card P2E games where you can collect and trade your cards for rewards.
Strategy P2E Games
Strategic P2E games involve collecting resources and solving quests. They can also include building, managing armies, and training. PlayDoge is the best example of a strategic P2E game. In this game, players progress by taking care of their virtual Doge.
Racing P2E Games
As their name suggests, these games involve racing through various maps in the shortest possible time. Some of the best play-to-earn games that include racing are Sponge Racer and eTukTuk’s Crazy Taxi.
Adventure P2E Games
The goal of these games is to explore, solve puzzles, and discover hidden treasures. The most popular adventure P2E games include Alien Worlds and Forest Knight. Adventure P2E games also include RPGs, in which players explore fantastical worlds, fight monsters, craft their weapons, and complete different quests.
PvP P2E Games
The list of play-to-earn crypto games also includes PvP games, in which players compete against each other. The best example of this type of game is Shiba Duel, in which players will have to face each other in intense one-on-one duels.
Real Estate P2E Games
These types of P2E games merge blockchain technology with virtual property trading. I.e., players will earn rewards by buying, selling, and renting their virtual lands. The most popular real estate game is Decentraland.
Sports P2E Games
These types of P2E games include a variety of sports, from soccer to basketball. In these games, players buy, sell, and trade their virtual teams, which are represented as NTFs. The most popular sports P2E games are Sorare, NBA Top Shot, and DeRace.
The Rise of Play to Earn Crypto Games
The crypto gaming trend started in 2017 with the launch of CryptoKitties, one of the first blockchain games. Spells of Genesis, the first mobile game to use blockchain technology, emerged in the same year. NFTs, which attracted the attention of the media and the public with their high-profile sales, also contributed to the popularity of P2E games.
Today, there are more than 2,800 P2E games, of which the most popular are Axie Infinity, The Sandbox, Decentraland, and Alien Worlds. The largest number of P2E games run on binance, polygon, and ethereum, while the most popular genres are action, adventure, and PVP. At the time of writing, the total market cap of P2E tokens stands at $8 billion. P2E tokens with the largest market caps are FLOKI ($1.3 million), NOT (824k), and BEAM (822k).
The Future of Play to Earn Crypto Games
The P2E industry will continue to develop, especially once game developers start integrating AI and VR technology into their games. This will lead to the creation of personalized features and more sophisticated games. The metaverse will play an important role in improving the gaming experience. In the future, the player’s avatars will most likely handle in-game items, which will revolutionize the online gaming industry.
The development of cross-chain technologies will lead to more vibrant ecosystems that will enable players to transfer their assets more smoothly. Online casinos that integrate blockchain technology into their games will also play a key role in the development of P2E games.
At the same time, the P2E industry will have to overcome certain challenges, such as finding a balance between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. Moreover, game developers will have to lower their entry prices to make their games more available and improve their network infrastructure.
That said, crypto analysts believe that by 2030, the blockchain gaming market could reach $614.91 billion.
We treat all of our investment suggestions with extreme caution and responsibility. Our team examines 12 distinct performance indicators when evaluating any digital asset we present to our readers. Here are the most important ones:
Our Methodology for Ranking and Reviewing Crypto Assets
Conclusion
The best play-to-earn games market is as diverse as it is expansive, offering something for every type of gamer. With such a wide array of games available, picking one that would suit you can be challenging. Our selection was designed to ease this process by showcasing some of the top contenders on the market.
In our opinion, The Meme Games is the best play-and-earn game.
FAQs
Are play-to-earn games worth it?
Which game should I play to earn money?
What is the most profitable play-to-earn game?
Are play-to-earn crypto games legit?
How to earn crypto by playing games?